A woman and her boyfriend have been indicted on first-degree murder charges stemming from the death of her 7-year-old son caused by blunt force trauma, dehydration and malnutrition, Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich said Monday.
A grand jury indicted Michelle Williamson, 42, and Daryl Lee, 39, on first-degree murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect, and on separate counts of aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect.
Both defendants are in custody.
First responders were called on Nov. 16, 2016, to the couple’s residence in the 100 block of First Ave. near Riverside Park just south of Downtown where they found the young boy, Tevaun Williamson, unresponsive.
He was taken to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Investigators said the boy had been beaten with a cable cord and that his head had been slammed to the floor. An autopsy also showed that he was malnourished and dehydrated.
The case is being handled by Eric Christensen, chief prosecutor of the DA’s Special Victims Unit (SVU) which prosecutes cases of child sexual abuse and severe physical abuse of child victims; rape and aggravated rape of adult victims, and abuse of elderly and vulnerable adults.
SVU reviews child-victim cases with Shelby County’s multi-agency Child Protection Investigative Team.
